Late
by DW Yoru Okami
Summary: He kept his promise as she knew he would, because she knew him. Now though, the face that stares at her isn’t one she’s ever seen before. Lelouch and Kallen. Inspired by Turn 18, R2.


Spoilers for Turn 18

**Title**: Late

**Summary**: He kept his promise as she knew he would, because she knew him. Now though, the face that stares at her isn't one she's ever seen before. Lelouch and Kallen. Inspired by Turn 18, R2.

SPOILERS if you haven't watched R2. Code Geass isn't mine.

* * *

_Guren stands in the hanger as a beacon of hope, but there are doubts. The Black Knights try to conceal their fears. They lost many, and this brief interlude won't last. They know that, and thus, they look to their leader for direction, for purpose. They find only silence. Zero is nowhere to be found. They search for Kallen as well, but she too has vanished. So they decide that their hopes - their leaders - are together and planning the miracle. _

_They're only half correct. _

"Zero?" The mask lies on the floor, his disguise as well. She hears him, moving around the bathroom, as if he's just taken a shower. She leans against the wall and waits. It has been awhile, and something, something is wrong. She's heard the whispers of her comrades, of Zero's strange behavior. She doesn't understand. All she knows is that it isn't the Zero she knows.

A loud crash emits from the closed door, and she hears him curse. The door opens, and he emerges disheveled, wet, and half-dressed. His head swings to and fro and he holds his left eye, focusing on nothing. He is mumbling, and as he collapses onto the couch, Kallen strains to hear him. He mumbles into his hands, oblivious.

"Zero?" He ignores her, and cautiously she makes her way towards him. She stops a few feet away, waiting for him to take notice. He continues to act as if she isn't there though. She frowns because the last time he was like this, his world was cracking.

"Hey, Lelouch." She bends over, and in a bold move pulls his face from his hands. His eyes are bloodshot, and his Geass blazes. He looks at her, yet through her, and she finally understands his ranting.

"Where? Nunn-" He doesn't finish.

That is all it takes and everything falls into place. Kallen's gasp seems to echo in the empty room. "Lelouch, she's not. She wasn't. God, no, Nunnally." Kallen falls to her knees in front of him, and she can't help it. The tears fall, unrelenting. Her despair brings a glimmer of recognition to Lelouch's eyes, because he sees his own there and hears the name he can't say.

"Kallen." His voice is cracked and worn, and he sounds so much like a child. "Kallen." His body is shaking as he repeats her name; as if afraid she isn't really there. This is worse than she could have imagined and the troubles of the past, of the world, seem so insignificant compared. The face she gazes at through her tears is one of complete and utter defeat. All she sees is pain.

Zero, Lelouch, Leader, Friend….She doesn't care what anyone calls him, all she knows is that he's there, and his world isn't cracking, it's already shattered.

Nunnally….Nunnally

She is falling to pieces, and she can't imagine what it's done to Lelouch, so she acts on impulse yet again and finds herself leaning forward to wrap her arms around him.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry." It is unlike Kallen in everyway, but it's just as uncharacteristic for Lelouch to wrap his arms around her in return. Yet he does.

Kallen's shirt is drenched and Lelouch's back aches, but still they cling to the other and forget the world, the war, the revenge, that waits for them. Because, for now, only they can comfort each other, and share the thoughts of a girl who was the beginning of everything.

Lelouch cries because he believes his closest friend betrayed him, and the most important person in the world to him is gone. He was too late to save his sister.

Kallen cries because she has lost a friend, and because her most important person has been suffering while she's been absent. He's changing, and she doesn't know the person he's becoming.

The Zero she knew is gone, and she hopes that she can save what remains of Lelouch.

Together they mourn, and Kallen hopes…

…that she isn't too late.

* * *

First Geass…Out of character I know, but considering what happened, I thought they would both be devastated t think about anything else, and thus I tried to convey that.


End file.
